The Right Way to Combat Gun Violence

Having plenty of law enforcement personnel is just part of the
battle; the other part is using them effectively. What appears to have
worked in New York -- and, later, in Chicago -- is swarming crime "hot
spots" with cops for days or weeks, forcing criminals to mind their
manners. This approach "almost certainly made a substantial contribution
in New York," writes criminologist Franklin Zimring, author of "The City
That Became Safe."

It was once thought that when cops moved into an area, crooks
would merely move to another one. It turns out that migration is not
always an attractive option. So a crime prevented today may be a crime
that is never committed.

Chicago also had some luck with a joint federal-city operation,
called Project Safe Neighborhoods. It zeroed in on ex-convicts, with the
goal of dissuading them from carrying guns, using a carrot-and-stick
approach. The stick was federal prosecution carrying long sentences with
no parole in faraway prisons; the carrot was meetings where offenders were
offered help getting shelter, job training and education.

In areas where PSN was implemented, homicide rates plunged. In the
rest of the city, they barely budged. Ex-offenders who were required to
take part in round-table meetings with police, community representatives
and service providers were nearly 30 percent less likely than others to
end up back in prison.

Another method of catching thugs with guns, says Ludwig, is to
offer significant cash rewards to tipsters -- $500 or $1,000. This
approach would not only produce more arrests of felons and teens but also
strongly discourage them from illegally carrying weapons. An action that
today may generate respect or fear -- displaying a handgun to friends or
rivals -- would suddenly carry a serious risk of prison time.

If we hope to reduce gun crime, the answer doesn't lie in broad
laws that mostly affect people who pose no threat. It lies in targeting
the criminals. Most gun control measures involve rearranging the haystack.
What these initiatives do is locate the needles.